Rural livelihoods in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa are under considerable stress. Economies and the political environment are experiencing a period of significant transformation, and poverty is endemic. Agriculture remains at the core of rural livelihoods and farm power (from human, draught animal and tractor sources) is a crucial input...

Over the past decade, Africa and other developing regions have been in the midst of tremendous changes. Market liberalisation and governmental decentralisation policies have interfaced with globalisation and urbanisation trends to dramatically transform social, political, economic and cultural lives. Agriculture can no longer remain behind-serving only to meet subsistence food...

This edition of the Dimitra newsletter focuses on rural women, information and empowerment. Two workshops, organized by our local partners, Amsed in Morocco and Women’s NET in South Africa, take the spotlight. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for rural women was on the programmes of both events....

The People, Land Management and Environmental Change (PLEC) project is a largely farmer-driven demonstration project consisting of five ecosystem clusters and spread over eight countries: Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, China, Papua New Guinea and Brazil. PLEC was initiated in 1992 by the United Nations University (UNU) as an international...

In the present issue, a large proportion of the columns will be been devoted to the Reflection and Self-Evaluation Workshop held in Brussels on 16-18 October with the partners of the Dimitra Project. We hand over to the partners, who have drawn up two documents on the proceedings of the...

These days, many credit and savings activities, including those under IFAD-supported projects, target rural women. A 2000 FAO/IFAD study in Uganda highlights the role of microfinance in women’s empowerment. Two questions asked were: (1) Is it appropriate and efficient to provide credit lines exclusively for women? (2) Are women in...

Identification of environmentally-sound options for agricultural resource management is necessary to obtain food security for smallhold farming communities in Uganda. Qualitative and quantitative appraisals were conducted in Bukoto county, Masaka district to assess the socioeconomic and biophysical status of the banana and coffee farming system. Three main hypotheses were tested:...

The present study is an update of an earlier assessment of warm-water fish farming potential in Africa, by Kapetsky (1994). The objective of this study was to assess locations and areal expanses that have potential for warm-water and temperate-water fish farming in continental Africa. The study was based on previous...

Uganda was one of countries included in a 1997 IFAD/FAO/Government of Japan study on agricultural implements used by women. The study areas in Uganda were the District of Mubende in central Uganda and the District of Soroti in the northeastern part of the country. These areas have quite different farming...

  "Nature et Faune" is a quarterly international publication dedicated to the exchange of information and scientific data on wildlife and protected areas management and conservation of natural resources on the African continent. The present edition of "Nature et Faune" covers subjects that are as broad and complementary as possible: the...